Lets all Honor this article, and lets all move out of
here and go-get the living we all want for our money and
toil...
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AND YOU WERE WORRIED ABOUT THE BEER
LADIES...
By Ng Tze Yong
May 08,
2008
MY dad told me a lame joke last week, something about a man who
stood in front of a cave, and then got run over by a train coming
out of it.
Or something like that.
Not very funny.
Miss Gao Yuan reminds me of this joke. She is the train; and I am
the man.
While born-and-bred Singaporeans were busy worrying about China
beer ladies taking away jobs at the kopitiam downstairs, look who's
serving up the Tequila Sunrise at Bellini Room.
Hey, it's another China Girl!
But this time, it's not the kopitiam auntie in frumpy clothes
with the non-existent English.
Neither is it the sweet young thing clad in a frilly skirt,
hanging on to an ah pek's arm.
This is China Girl 2.0.
Look at Yvonne's picture again. This is what happens when the
study mama's kid is all grown up.
GO-GETTER
Go ahead, call her China Girl again, because you might not be
able to when she becomes a high-flying scientist at the
Biopolis.
And there will be many more Yvonnes to come.
Miss Gao impresses on two levels.
There is the obvious - that migrant's go-getter attitude.
In essence, she is doing what her mother did.
Both were brave enough to leave their comfort zone. Mum left
China, daughter left the bubble of elite JC life.
Both slogged hard. Lawyer mum became study mama, in a land where
she would be looked down upon. Daughter saw the hard work in a
nightclub as a way to better herself.
But we will miss the point, if we stop here.
This is not about the values of hard work and determination.
Singaporeans know them well enough.
This is about Yvonne's other trait, the one that will define the
winners in a globalised world: The imagination, the curiosity, the
guts to explore and conquer.
She had the foresight to know that being in a JC debate club
sparkles on a CV, but knowing how to talk to people matters
more.
She had the wisdom to see the bubble of elite JC life she was
in, and do something about it.
It's a trait the Government has been trying to nurture in
Singaporeans, in schools and workplaces.
But it's hard to change.
Singaporeans are go-getters.
But we are only go-getters stuck in a box.
It seems China Girls know better.